Back in Time
by Commander Mander
Summary: "Now you must choose," The Starchild repeated, only giving her three options. But what if there were a fourth? What if The Crucible could be set to act as a time machine, sending Shepard back to a random time. Lucky for her, she wakes up on a Cerberus operating table. Given a second chance to redo the last year of her life, what will she change, and will she stop the Reapers?
1. The Fourth Option

Shepard stood before the Catalyst. Three colors: blue, red, and green. Yet only one decision was to be made.

"Now, you must choose," the A.I. ghost child repeated.

Shepard wasn't quite sure what to do. She didn't want to die herself, ruling out control and synthesis. I mean, what's the point of saving the whole galaxy if you won't even be around to see it? Yet she also didn't want to kill the Geth who she'd gotten to cooperate with the Quarian, and Joker would be crushed if she'd killed EDI, ruling out destroying all synthetics. None of these options really made any sense at all to her. She turned to face the child.

"Uhh, are you sure there aren't any OTHER options? These options don't really seem all that logical."

"You COULD allow the cycle to continue, but I'm sure you wouldn't want that, so just hurry up and choose one of these three option I've already laid out for you."

She sighed. She knew what she had to do. Slowly, she began to approach the red beam. She drew her gun and covered her eyes with her arm.

"WAIT!" the child shouted.

Shepard paused and turned swiftly.

"What?"

"There may be ONE other option, but it's a little risky."

"What do you mean it's a little risky?"

"Come this way." The child led her to another beam that had just sprung up behind where they'd been standing originally. She looked up and down at it.

"It's... purple?"

"It's just come to my attention that we could channel the energy of the Crucible to do something that's never been done before."

"None of these options have been done before, if you haven't noticed."

"Quiet," the starchild boomed. "We could off the Crucible so that everything that is here and now will have never existed and you will be sent back in time."

"Back in time? How far back in time?" She supposed that's where the risk came in. Back in time could mean anything from five minutes ago to when Jesus Christ was born.

"I don't know. What I do know is that this... second chance option was implemented some cycles ago. The idea to turn the Crucible into a time machine giving one chosen leader of a cycle to go back in time with new evidence to inform others of the reaper threat."

"And what are the consequences? I know there's got to be consequences."

"The only one I can think of is not knowing how far back in time you will be going. You could end up anywhere from five seconds ago to the stone age of humans."

Shepard turned her head to look at the three choices behind her, then back in front of her to face the bright purple beam. It was a risk she was willing to take. She nodded at the child took a running sprint, and leaped forward, soaring backwards in time.

* * *

When Shepard came to she was lying on her back on an operating table.

"Shepard you have to wake up, this facility is under attack. I know you're not ready yet, but you have to get moving if you want to survive."

 _That's Miranda's voice._

Shepard stood uneasily and hobbled to the locker, grabbing a pistol and her old N7 gear.

"Shepard, you have to-" Miranda's voice continued on in the background, but Shepard already knew what she had to do, so she ignored it. She hastily disposed of her opponents and met up with Jacob.

"Shepard? What the hell?"

"Yeah, I know. Let's just get rid of these mechs so we can get to Wilson."

"Wait how do you-" Shepard cut him off by throwing a pull field to the mechs.

"Let's go, Jacob."

"How do you know my name?"

Shepard stumbled over her words, realizing her mistake. "I mean- black guy I've never met before and whose name I do not know."

"Slow down, Shepard. Don't you have any questions?"

"No, I don't. Let's go black guy."

"My name is Jacob."

Shepard and Jacob continued on looking for Wilson.

"We should probably keep a look out for Miranda. I mean, she can handle herself, but there are a lot of mechs out here."

"Don't worry about it, she'll make it. Let's look for Wilson."

They reached a room where they found Wilson bleeding on the floor from an apparent leg injury.

"Help me, goddamn it. Get the medi-gel off that wall and- GAH!" Shepard shot him in the head, ending his sentence.

"Shepard, what the hell?"

"I wasn't going to waste Medi-gel on him just so Miranda could kill him later."

Jacob looked to Wilson's dead body and shook his head with wide eyed fear. "Okay if I tell you who I work for, will you trust me?"

"Cerberus. I know. Let's get to Miranda." Shepard kept walking and, hesitantly, Jacob followed. Once they reached the elevator they pressed the button, revealing Miranda who was holding a gun of her own. She was visibly bewildered by the scene before her.

"W-Where's Wilson?"

"Dead. I killed him."

"But I w-," she looked down and shook her head. "How did you know?"

"I have feelings."

Miranda stroked her chin, still looking down while biting her lip. "Well then I suppose it was for the best. It doesn't matter who killed him, he would've died anyway. Let's go. The Illusive-"

"Man will want to see me. I know."

"I... okay." Miranda finished, closing the elevator doors.

* * *

"Shepard, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I bet it is. Listen Mister... Man, you want me to go through the Omega-4 Relay, is that right?"

"You're very well informed, Shepard. That is precisely what I was eventually hoping you would do."

"Yeah, I bet you already have a ship for me, and Joker is probably right outside that door."

"Yes... he is. What's going on here?"

"A lot more than you know. I already know my objective. I'll be going now." Shepard stepped off the communication device and turned to leave the room, meeting Joker on her way out.

"Commander. Just like old times, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it," she finished, boarding the ship with Joker, Miranda, and Jacob.


	2. A Murder Has Occured

"Shepard, are you listening to me?" Miranda asked. She'd been spending the past five minutes intelligently explaining all of the glorious new Normandy's features to Shepard, who appeared to have not been listening, much to her dismay.

"Huh, what? Yeah, I already know what you said. I'm going to go up to my cabin for a while, if that's okay. I need some time alone."

Shepard rushed to her cabin without giving Miranda or Jacob a second thought. She sat on the edge of her bed and sunk her face into her hands.

 _Another chance. Best put it to good use._

She took some time to sit and think. She knew, since she'd already been through this before, that the answer to all her problems lied in the Mars archives. She didn't want to just go and get the blueprints for the crucible while on a CERBERUS ship, giving The Illusive Man access to crucial information. She couldn't tell anyone about it either, at least not anyone on the ship currently. No, she had to play this smart. The only person she could think of bringing into this was Liara. Maybe that was the way she needed to go.

"EDI?"

The blue holographic orb appeared. "Yes, Shepard?"

"Set course for Illium immediately."

"The Illusive Man advises that you head to Omega to pick up Dr. Solus. Without him, you will not be able to access crucial research involving the-"

"THE ILLUSIVE MAN ALSO GAVE ME FULL REIGN OVER THIS MISSION. YOU HEARD WHAT I GODDAMN SAID TELL JOKER TO SET COURSE FOR ILLIUM IMMEDIATELY."

"As you wish, Shepard." The blue holographic orb went away.

* * *

Once they'd reached Illium, Shepard began rushing to Liara's office, only to be stopped by a concierge.

"Welcome to Illium, Commander Shepard. Liara T'soni would-"

"Yeah, I know. That's where I'm headed. Thank you for all your help." Shepard slid passed the concierge and continued on her path to Liara's office. Once there she was interrupted, yet again, this time by Liara's assistant, Nyxeris."

"Hello, Commander. Liara will be glad to see you. She's in her office, right through that door."

Shepard already knew what Nyxeris was up to, so she decided to deal with her then and there so there wouldn't be any problems later.

"Thank you for all your help, Observer."

"What? Who... why did you just call me that?"

Shepard slapped both hands on the desk and brought her face close to Nyxeris'. "I know what you're up to. Liara is a good friend of mine and I'm not going to sit back quietly while her assistant betrays her to help the SHADOW BROKER!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, please. What do you want from me?"

"If I tell Liara what you're doing she'll kill you right where you stand. I'm feeling pretty generous today, so I'm going to give you a chance to get as far away from Illium as possible."

"I- Ahhh!" She ran, flailing as she went. Shepard shook her head as she watched Nyxeris dash away. She entered Liara's office.

* * *

"Have you ever faced an Asari Commando unit before? Few humans have. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive... WITH MY MIND!"

"Liara?"

"Shepard!" she gasped. "Nyxeris, hold my calls!"

"Um... about that, Nyxeris wanted me to tell you she was sorry for betraying you and she'd been working as an informant of the Shadow Broker this whole time. She said something about being an Observer and... anyway, she ran off and got hit by a passing shuttle or something. I don't know, she might be dead," Shepard lied, as she'd decided to keep the fact Nyxeris was alive a secret from Liara, whom she knew would seek revenge. "Anyway, Li. How ya doin'?"

"Shepard, please have a seat." Liara sat at her desk, and Shepard followed. "The information you've presented regarding Nyxeris is... troubling to say the least. If she'd been ordered to kill me, I would have never guessed that... I just don't know, Shepard."

"Liara, there is an urgent matter I would like to discuss with you in private." Shepard blurted out.

"An urgent matter? What is this all about?"

"Uh, something a...bout THE SHADOW BROKER! Yeah! You have an apartment nearby, I presume? We should meet there."

"I do. If it's something that big it likely would be a good idea to meet there. I'm just going to gather some things and then you can come over whenever you'd like."

Shepard knew exactly what would happen had Liara gone alone.

"As a matter of fact, it's best if we just go together. I wouldn't want to get lost or anything like that. This IS my first time on Illium, you know."

"If you say so, Shepard. We can go, now."

* * *

Shepard and Liara exited the cab and entered the apartment, Shepard looking around to make sure there weren't any Asari Spectres on the loose.

"We're alone now, Shepard. Completely all alone. Just us. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"All alone, huh? This is one heck of an apartment. I wonder what the bedroom looks like," Shepard added seductively.

"Excuse me?"

 _Whoops._

That's when Shepard remembered she hadn't attempted to pursue a romantic relationship with Liara until 2186, and it was currently more than a year before that.

"I mean... let's talk in the bedroom. More privacy that way," she recovered.

"You could be right."

Once they were in the bedroom, Liara closed the door and locked it. Shepard couldn't help but stare at her past... or technically future lover, longingly. In a room together, all alone. _This would have been the perfect time,_ she thought. Shepard figured it was best to make up for lost time in more ways than one.

"So, you're not involved with your friend Feron, are you?"

"My fri-," Liara furrowed her brow. "I don't remember telling you about Feron."

 _Oops._

"I mean, what? Who's Feron?" Shepard attempted to recover.

"Oh, you're not fooling me. You just sa-" Liara was suddenly cut off by what sounded like bullets breaking the glass windows downstairs.

"STAY HERE!" Shepard shouted, grabbing her gun and running to the first floor. She made a b line for the window and looked out, knowing Tela Vasir had to be somewhere nearby. Liara came rushing down the stairs as well.

"Shepard, what happened?!"

Shepard didn't respond. She couldn't see Vasir anywhere, but she knew what was going to happen. She turned to Liara and went to whisper in her ear, but she suddenly noticed Liara had no ears, so she whispered near where her ears would be, had she been human.

"Listen, Liara. You have to get out of here. I'll take care of everything else from here."

"Shepard, what's going on?"

She put a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Just go, I got this," she finished with a wink.

Liara decided to trust Shepard, and went.

* * *

Tela Vasir entered Liara's apartment followed by a few crime scene investigators.

"I want this apartment searched top to bottom. Don't rule out a single thing. Anything could be perceived as a clue." Vasir wandered from the entrance to the kitchen where she found someone sitting in a stool, their back facing her, eating an apple with their face buried in a copy of Fornax.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Vasir interrogated.

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I'd like to know what happened to my friend," Shepard said, turning in her seat, slamming the magazine down on the table and tossing the apple sloppily on top of it.

"Commander Shepard? How long have you been here?"

"Um, when I got here, Liara was already gone, so I don't know where she is. If it's okay, I'd like to help you search the apartment."

Vasir shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that. I'll just let my detectives go and we'll deal with this ourselves, Spectre to Spectre."

"Good idea," Shepard added.

Once the detectives were gone, Shepard and Vasir decided to split up to search the apartment. Vasir agreed to take on the downstairs area while Shepard took upstairs.

Vasir crouched near the fireplace. "So where do you think she could've gone?"

"I don't know," Shepard responded, slowly approaching Vasir from behind.

"Any idea where she might leave some clues? I mean, I'm sure she was expecting you."

"I have no idea." Shepard slowly drew her gun.

"That's a shame. I really- I mean we really need to find her before it's... too late."

"Don't worry. I'll find her, but you won't! HIZZAH!" Shepard placed the gun to the back of Vasir's head and fired.

She was dead.

"Shepard!" Liara yelped helplessly, having arrived just in time to witness the gruesome scene.

"Liara, I had to do it."

"IN MY APARTMENT? I JUST GOT THE CARPET REPLACED!" Liara fell to her knees weeping.

Shepard went over and put a discomforting hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, Li. We don't have time to cry over your brand new, now bloodstained, carpet. We need to get rid of Vasir's body and get down to Dracon Trade Center. There are bombs in the building. Your friend, Sekat, is in trouble."

Liara looked up with tearful eyes. "How do you know this?"

"Uhh, Vasir told me before she died, or something- LOOK I just do!"

"If you say so, Shepard. I doubt you'd lie to me about a bombing."

They stuffed Vasir's body into the trash compactor and hailed a cab, heading toward Dracon Trade Center.


	3. The Shadow in Our Broker

Shepard and Liara entered Dracon Trade Center.

"So, you said there were bombs here? Do you know their locations?" Liara asked.

Shepard was instantly dumbfounded. The first time she did this the bombs were set off by the time she got there, so she had no idea where Vasir had placed them beforehand.

"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it. Just go check on Sekat and get the information regarding the ship."

She went.

Shepard contacted Miranda via her Omni-tool.

"Shepard?"

"Miranda, I'm going to need you and the rest of the crew-" she paused, remembering she hadn't recruited anyone else since boarding the ship. "Err, I mean you and Jacob to get down here. I need help searching for a few bombs."

"Got it. We'll be right there."

Shepard assumed that the only reason the bombs were set off the first time was because Vasir had a detonator, to she figured she was in the clear when it came to a time limit. Once Jacob and Miranda had arrived, they quickly found and disposed of the explosives placed within the building without alerting or worrying civilians. When that was all done, Shepard made her way to Sekat's office.

* * *

"Thank you, Sekat. This information will be very useful regarding my investigation," Liara thanked.

"No problem, Dr. T'soni. And good luck. I sure hope you're sure about doing this."

"Don't worry, I am."

Shepard entered the office carrying a sack with the diffused bombs.

"Alright, you ready to go?"

"Shepard, what's in that sack?" Liara examined.

"Oh, these? They're just bombs. Trust me, we're going to need these. Anyways, we should get going." Shepard rushed.

* * *

The two of them, along with Miranda, sat together in a shuttle amidst a lightning storm, headed toward the Shadow Broker's ship.

Shepard was fiddling with one of the bombs when Liara started again. "So, what exactly are you planning to do with those bombs?"

"Just, trust me," she responded, not even exchanging a glance through her explosive tweaking.

Once they'd landed, they struggled tireless amounts of force through to the main entrance of the ship. They appeared to be in the clear when Liara brought out her code breaking device.

"This should get us through the doors, but it might take a while."

"And this is where the bombs come in," Shepard said, pulling the sack off her shoulder. She rustled through it pulling out four bombs and laying them in a circular path around the door.

"Now while we were riding over here, I was rigging the bombs to set off via timer. Now here's my idea: both of you follow my lead." Shepard stepped about ten feet away from the door, looked to the sky, and began flailing her arms and yelling.

"AHHHHH I'M COMMANDER SHEPARD AND I'M RIGHT HERE! HEY SHADOW BROKER, HOW ABOUT YOU SEND THE BULK OF YOUR FORCES THIS WAY! AHHHHHHH!"

Miranda and Liara exchanged glances, obviously confused, but went with it anyway.

"AHHHHHHH I'M LIARA T'SONI AND I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, SHADOW BROKER!""

"AHHHHH I'M MIRANDA LAWSON AND... I'M... MIRANDA AHHHH!"

The more they shouted and waved and jumped, the more soldiers headed they're way.

Once they were totally surrounded, Shepard shouted "NOW", and the three, in unison, threw up a triple biotic field as the bombs went off, blowing the doors open and killing all soldiers left on the ship.

"Should be a clear path from here on through. Let's head out," Shepard asserted.

"Goddess, how did you know that would work?"

"You know, stuff and things."

They continued into the ship, finally stopping when they reached Feron who was hooked up to an electric chair.

"Goddess, Feron! We need to get you out of there!" Liara furiously tapped at the console.

"Wait, Liar-Ah AHHHAhAHHHAHAHH," he burst as he was violently electrocuted.

She threw her hands up and backed away. "Feron!"

"You can't just pull me out, the chair is connected to the entire info network. Pull me out now and my brain cooks. You have to shut off the power."

"Just a minute, I've got a few questions for you, Feron."

"What do you- AHHAHAHHAAHHH!"

"Shepard we need to get him out of there."

"So, what IS the Shadow Broker, exactly?"

"I don't know. Whatever he is, he's huge. Most people that enter his chambers don't come back o- AHHHHAHHHAAAAAAA"

"Shepard, there's no time. We need to get him out of there."

"You're awfully concerned about his well being. Is there something going on between you two," Shepard bickered.

"Ple-AHHHHH just get m-AAAAHHAHAHA OWWWWOWOOOWWW GOD FUCKIN DANANAAMAAAAAAAAA!"

"SHEPARD!"

"OKAY FINE!"

They made their way to the Shadow Broker's main lair. Once they entered, they saw the shadow of a giant being sitting behind a desk. They couldn't see him clearly, but they could tell that he was shaking his head back and forth.

"Here for the Drell? Reckless. Even for you, Commander."

"Oh, trust me. You haven't even seen reckless, yet."

Liara, Miranda, and even the Broker himself, exchanged bewildered glances.

"Psst, Shepard. What are you doing?" Liara whispered.

Shepard ignored her and lumbered forward confidently.

"You don't think I'd know anything about the YAHG that tried to sell my body to the COLLECTORS?"

Everyone stood in silence.

"Yeah, that's right. YAHG! And I'll also have you know that I know there's no way that you're the original Shadow Broker. Considering the fact that you come from a pre-spaceflight culture, it's likely to presume that you killed the original Shadow Broker when you were taken from your planet as a trophy, or a pet." Shepard finished with a sly smirk, placing her hands on her hips.

The Shadow Broker slowly arose to his feet. He angrily smashed his desk in two, plucked one half off the ground, and chucked it at Miranda, knocking her out cold.

 _Really Miranda? You get shot at all the time, yet you get taken out by a desk? You weak bitch._

The Shadow Broker took the other half of the desk and lodged it toward Shepard and Liara. Once Liara recovered, she fired a few shots toward the Broker, yet he threw up a shield, causing her shots to backfire.

"Keep firing at him. Get him to keep the shield up," Shepard ordered. She threw a warp toward the shield projector and it exploded, killing the Broker instantly.

She helped Liara up and they made their way to the power console, temporarily shutting it down and releasing Feron.

Suddenly, all at once, every screen began buzzing and talking.

"Shadow Broker, do you read," from one feed.

"Shadow Broker, we temporarily disconnected," from another.

Hundreds of voices, all at once. Liara shut her eyes and flipped on the voice transmitter.

"This is the Shadow Broker..." Her speech went on. Shepard was glad that hey finally dealt with that issue. Now that they had the ship, it would be easy to wean Liara in the direction of the Crucible blueprints in the archives without making herself look too suspicious.

"I expect updates on all operations within the next solar day," she finished.

Feron entered the room just in time to witness the end of her speech. He lowered his weapon. "Liara, you're the new Shadow Broker?"

"I think this could be a good thing. Maybe you'll find something helpful, like something that could shape the fate of the galaxy helpful."

Liara's eyes began to fill with tears. "With all this new information, Shepard, I could help you- I could- I c-"

"Uhh, I'm just going to... check the power systems," Feron said, awkwardly excusing himself and limping out of the room along with Miranda who'd been playing dead the whole fight.

Shepard approached Liara and spun her around for a hug, and was thanked with a kiss on the cheek. Their eyes met.

Liara lowered her head, bashfully. "No... you- we're different people and-" Shepard interrupted her pulling her in for a passionate kiss. They separated slowly, still holding hands as they parted.

"Okay?"

"Okay."


	4. The Discovery Channel

In order to deflect suspicion away from herself, Shepard attempted to proceed with the mission as usual upon leaving the Broker ship. She stopped on Omega to pick up Garrus, Mordin, and Zaeed, and to chat with Aria before heading back to visit Liara.

"Welcome back, Shepard. I've been looking through the Broker's files and I've come across some interesting data you might want to take a look at."

When the doors opened, a drone came levitating towards Shepard.

"Evening, Shadow Broker. The following terminals have recently been updated..."

"The drone has been very helpful with repairing some of the damaged systems. It also assumes that anyone in the room is the Shadow Broker."

Shepard followed the drone to Liara.

"So, how's it going being the Shadow Broker and all? Find anything REALLY important sifting through all that information?"

"As a matter of fact, I believe I have. Apparently the Shadow Broker was in possession of information regarding the Reaper's existence, which is why he offered to prove Saren's guilt to the council."

"Really," Shepard asked, almost sarcastically.

"There's a lot more on the terminal over there," she said, pointing. "Now, Shepard. I need to ask you about something that's been... on my mind since we last spoke."

"What's up?"

"Shepard, how did you know all that stuff about the Shadow Broker? I mean, I'm sure upon closer inspection I could have figured that all myself, but we had just entered the room, Shepard. And the information regarding the Collectors... how did you know?"

"Umm... You know, the Discovery Channel and whatnot..." Shepard muttered.

"It's all been so strange since you got back. Knowing Sekat had information on the location of the ship, and even knowing about Vasir and Feron. There's something more to this Shepard, and I want to know what," Liara asserted.

Shepard was stuck. She figured she'd already slipped in front of Liara too many times. She decided to make one last ditch effort to distract her.

"You know, I was actually kind of hoping we could talk about us."

"Us? What do you mean by that? Are you trying to change the subject?"

"I mean, that little kiss you gave me... I feel like there was more to that than just a simple 'thanks for helpin out'."

Liara blushed and covered her cheeks with her hands. "I... I like you Shepard, you know that. But you already turned me down the last time an-"

"Oh come on, that was two years ago. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you, and I think that means you deserve some Shepard lovin'," she said, taking Liara's hands and smiling coyly.

She put her head on Shepard's shoulder. "Shepard..." She closed her eyes. "Wait wait wait..." She shook her head, pulling herself away. "Shepard, you're not getting off that easy. I really do want to know what's going on here. You showing up with all the answers. It's- It's like you're from the future or something!"

Shepard's body tensed and her eyes widened. "What? Liara, you sound crazy. Time machines don't even exist."

"Okay, fine. Then what is it? Maybe Cerberus has my office on Illium bugged, is that it?"

"Maybe they do, maybe they don't," Shepard bit back, sternly.

"I suppose that answers my question."

 _Nice save, Shep._

"Listen, Liara. I'm sorry about Cerberus bugging your office on Illium. I only listened in because I wanted to make sure you weren't getting into any trouble," Shepard added convincingly, building upon the lie. "I won't intrude upon your privacy any longer. I promise."

Liara put her head down. "It's okay, Shepard. All of these things would have come to light sooner or later. I wish I could've told you myself, but I suppose it was for the best."

A look of relief came upon Shepard's face. "Now that THAT'S over with, there's something I would like to ask you about. If you could, would you mind looking into something for me?"

"Something like?"

"Well, I was... looking through some uhh Cerberus files and I noticed they had some heavily encrypted data regarding the Mars archives." Shepard figured telling Liara she got the data from Cerberus was a well constructed fib. It'd be easy to believe that if Cerberus had gotten wind of anything involving the Reapers, they'd want to keep it a secret. "Looking through their data, it's obvious they're aware that the Reapers are an actual threat to the galaxy. Apparently they've gotten wind of some device that could be used to destroy the Reapers. They're looking for ways to obtain schematics for it and reconfigure it to control them. That's just what I heard... though."

"Really? This sounds... concerning. We should make looking into this a priority."

"Right! I think it would be a good idea not to take the Normandy. Don't want Cerberus to find out about our little venture. We should go this solo, just the two of us."

"Maybe you're right, Shepard. We can go as soon as you're ready."

Shepard disappeared into the next room for a few minutes before reappearing, clad in her favorite N7 armor. "Ready!"

* * *

They waited on the ship headed toward the Mars archives.

"A weapon massive enough to destroy the Reapers. Shepard, if you're right about this... this could be huge. Goddess, this could be almost as exciting as finding a live Prothean!"

"A live Prothean, huh." Shepard's eyes grew large. "JAVIK," she blurted suddenly.

"What did you say? Javik?"

Shepard stopped herself, covering her mouth with her hands. "Umm, I mean... wreak havoc... is what the Reapers will do if we don't find this weapon. I said havoc, not Javik."

 _THAT was a close one._

Shepard, remembering that there WAS a live Prothean on Eden Prime, decided it wouldn't be such a bad idea to wake him up a little earlier than they had the last time, and it would be nice for him to see the new cycle before the Reapers arrive in full force.

"Ya know, Liara... I found something else in Cerberus' files that might pique your interests."

"Really? And what might that be?"

"I HEARD that Cerberus found another one of those underground bunker things on Eden Prime. You know, the ones that the Protheans used to preserve themselves in stasis pods?"

"Are... Are you serious? Cerberus seems to be in possession of a lot of crucial information. These aren't things they'd allow to slip the net. They could all give humanity a significant edge above other species within the galactic community, if that were Cerberus' intention. Now tell me, Shepard, why would Cerberus just allow you to sift through their files like that?"

"Ahh... You know, I told them if they didn't let me look through their systems I wouldn't work for them, so yeah. That's how that went down."

Liara rubbed her forehead, knowing that seemed far-fetched, but decided not to question Shepard about it. "Well, if that happens to be true, we should look into it. We can make a quick stop on Eden Prime to investigate. It's on the way to Sol, anyway."

She went to the galaxy map and changed the trajectory of the course to head for Eden Prime.

* * *

They landed on Eden Prime and exited the Brokers ship.

Shepard took a deep breath in and stretched her limbs. "Ah! Nice fresh air."

"Did the file note a possible location for the bunker?"

"Yeah, totally. Follow me, it shouldn't be far from here."

Shepard led Liara down a dark underground tunnel. The markings and patterns on the wall were those that Liara recognized to be of Prothean design.

"I can tell by the architecture that we might be on the right path."

"I told you I knew what I was doing."

When they came to the center of the tunnel, they entered a room with walls that were covered with defunct stasis pods. One, still active, prominently displayed in the center of the room.

"By the Goddess," Liara announced. She was speechless. She couldn't believe it when they came across something like this the first time, but once again she was in the center of a Prothean underground bunker, surrounded by their dead. "These poor Protheans."

"Hey, Li. You gotta check this out," Shepard announced, paces ahead of her, kneeling over the one still active stasis pod.

"Yes, Shepard?" She met Shepard in the center of the room.

"Remember how all the stasis pods on Ilos lost power or something? It looks like this one is still active. Go figure!"

"I'm beginning to understand why Cerberus would want to keep this a secret. This Prothean could be the foremost scientist of his time, or perhaps even the wisest counselor..."

"Or a bitter asshole," Shepard rebutted. She stood to face Liara. "You should stand back. I need room to open this stasis pod. This'll probably take a while."

Liara sat on one of the inactive pods and watched as Shepard spent the next ten minutes intricately removing the bulkheads and putting in the code to end stasis mode.

"That should do it."

"Goddess, Shepard. How did you know how to do that?"

"Seriously? It was all over the Prothean special on the Discovery Channel. I thought you would've seen that one. You should really get out more."

Shepard pulled the top off of the pod and allowed the cold smoke to clear. The Prothean inside slowly opened his eyes, blinking each of the four one at a time. He threw a weak warp toward Shepard as he tried to stand uneasily on two toes, falling to his knees. He stood once again, stumbling erratically.

Liara shouted, "He's confused. For us it's been fifty-thousand years, but for him it's only been a few minutes!"

He fell again. "How many others," asked the Prothean.

"Just you," Shepard replied.

"Then I guess we have failed."

"Yeah, maybe," Shepard replied uninterested. She put her hand on the Prothean's shoulder. "Listen, your cycle may have failed, but this cycle hasn't failed, yet. If you want your revenge you should join the fight."

"You mean... the Reapers have not yet returned? You're telling me there is still time?"

"Not in full force, but they'll be here soon. We could use your help."

He looked back and forth between the two primitives that stood before him. "Very well, then. I will help you fight. You can call me Javik."

"Alright then, Javik. Come with us."


	5. Disconnected

_Goddess, an actual live Prothean sitting right in front of me,_ Liara thought. She couldn't believe it, and the fact that Cerberus nearly had their hands on him... best not to think about that.

Javik sat by the window, looking into the galaxy as Liara stood a distance away from him, staring admiringly.

"Shepard," she whispered to the Commander who'd been looking through the Shadow Broker's dossiers on her squadmates. "Sh-should we ask him any questions? He could have so much to tell us."

"You can try. I just imagine he wouldn't have much to say. The last time he was awake he watched his planet being decimated by the Reapers. I'd give him a moment to get his bearings and adjust to his new surroundings."

"Maybe you're right. I'll just... give him some time."

 _But he could have so much to say._

Liara gave in and sat next to him.

"Mister... umm... Javik, is it okay if I just ask you a few questions?"

 _Goddamit Liara, I said no questions._

"I just want to know, what was your society like? What kind of government did you have? Did you-"

"What does it matter? We are dead now," he interrupted.

"I just-"

He shrugged and sat back. "What would you like to know, Asari?"

Shepard knew that Liara was in for a rude awakening, so she let her have her fun and ignored the conversation.

"I'm just going to the bathroom for a while so you two can uhhh get to know each other," Shepard announced, excusing herself.

* * *

"And that's how we conquered the subservient species of my cycle," Javik closed.

"That... is... okay then," Liara responded, visibly astonished.

Shepard reentered the room upon completing her extended bathroom trip.

"So, Liara. What have you learned today?"

"I need a moment, Shepard. I'm just going to catch up on some data feeds before we land on Mars."

"Mars? Where are you taking me," Javik asked.

Liara turned back to him. "We're actually on our way to pick up schematics for a weapon that your people may have been planning to use as a weapon of mass destruction against the Reapers. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

He turned his head away. "I've never heard of such a thing. There were only rumors in my cycle. If the scientists were working on anything, it would have been kept secret."

Liara turned on her heels and left the room.

Javik shook his head. "Are all of the Asari of this cycle so annoying? She makes me think we should have never taught her kind to speak."

"Come on now, she's dedicated her life to learning all about your people. She's published papers and everything, so excuse her if she's a little excited about actually meeting one of you," Shepard spat in Liara's defense.

He glared condescendingly in Shepard's direction. "Primitive," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Once they arrived on Mars, they took a tram to the archives. Shepard led them through the archive hall towards where she knew the Crucible schematics were located when she heard a ringing noise.

"Does anyone else hear that ringing? Is that just me," Shepard asked.

"Shepard, I think that's your Omni-tool."

She pulled up her Omni-tool. The Illusive Man had been attempting to contact her.

 _Uh oh._

She answered. "Heeeeey, Mister Man, how's it goin'," Shepard asked shakily, knowing she was probably in for it.

"SHEPARD, GODDAMIT. I FORWARDED YOU THREE MORE DOSSIERS AND ACCORDING TO MIRANDA THERE'S BEEN NO RECENT MISSION PROGRESS. SHE SAYS YOU HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ON THE NORMANDY IN FOUR DAYS. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING," The Illusive Man roared.

"Look, Man, I can explain-"

"There's no time to. We need you back to the Normandy ASAP. I need you to get to a colony on Horizon and-"

"Colony. Horizon. Got it."

"Shepard I'm not-" she disconnected the call.

She figured she'd better finish up quickly and get back to the Normandy. After all, she knew Kaidan was on Horizon and he would have been taken by the Collectors had she not interfered the first time around.

"That sounded like it was important. We should move quickly so you can get back to your work."

"Good thinking, Liara."

* * *

"Well, here we are." The three of them stood before the Crucible schematics.

"This is what my people were working on? No wonder it was kept a secret. If the Reapers found out about this... the imminence of our demise would have only been made quicker."

"You're right. It's best if we just scan these and wipe the local copy. Wouldn't want just anyone getting a hold of this," Shepard suggested.

Liara took a copy for her Omni-tool and deleted what was in the archives.

"What would you like us to do with this data, Shepard?"

"You and Javik should head to the Council and let them know what's going on. They wouldn't believe ME about the Reapers, but hopefully they'll believe the last Prothean."

"Council? I have never heard of such a thing."

"The Council are representatives of the top races in the galactic community. There's one for the Asari, the Turians, the Salarians, and the Humans. We can find them on the Citadel," Liara informed the Prothean.

"The Citadel being run by primitives?" He crossed his arms. "I have never seen the Citadel. By the time I was born it had already been captured by the Reapers."

"Well, you're going to the Citadel today, Javik. Let's not waste any more time here. We should go," Shepard proclaimed.

* * *

Once Shepard was finally back on the Normandy, she gathered Garrus and Miranda and took them with her down to Horizon. When they landed, they conducted a full search of the colony. Shepard was a bit confused by what she found, or better said, what she didn't find. She pulled up The Illusive Man on her Omni-tool.

"SHEPARD! WHAT IS IT?"

"There appears to be a problem, Mr. Man. There's no one here."

The Illusive Man pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Obviously not, Shepard. You waited too long. The Collectors left days ago with everyone in the colony, including your old friend Mr. Alenko."

"They-THEY WHAT?" She clenched her fists in frustration.

"Best not to wait around here, Shepard. We should get going. Better luck next time, maybe," Garrus suggested.

Shepard, dismayed, covered her face with her hands and fell to her knees. She was so preoccupied with speeding up the process that she'd lost sight of the lives she was losing by not following Cerberus' mission. She lost Kaidan, and she was so.. soo...

actually, she wasn't that bad off. She suddenly realized that it didn't really matter what happened to Kaidan. What was she missing, really? Him bitching at her for joining Cerberus? Him bitching at her for not visiting him in the hospital? Him putting a gun in her face when she tried to convince him that Udina was betraying the Council? And to top it all off, him dying on the run to the beam? If she could have left him behind on Virmire along with Ashley, she probably would have. She didn't really care for either of them, and when faced with his death once again, she was just now starting to realize it. Maybe, it was just meant to be.

Garrus put a talon on Shepard's shoulder as he hovered over her. "Shepard, are you okay? I know losing Kaidan must be hard."

Shepard suddenly sprung up. "I'm fine, really! We'll grieve later. Right now, we should get back to our mission."

"THAT'S the kind of determination I like to hear, Shepard! I'll be awaiting your next mission briefing." The Illusive Man finished and disconnected the call.


	6. Wasting Time

Shepard agreed to meet Liara and Javik in the Council's chambers when they were ready. They met on the Citadel and were on their way there when they were stopped by the scanner.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," the Turian C-Sec officer apologized. "The system says you're dead. Must be a mistake. I'll get it cleared right away."

"Thanks." He finished up and allowed Shepard through. They were halted once again when Javik attempted to pass.

"I'm sorry, sir. The scanner doesn't register you as any known species and has flagged you as a risk for Geth infiltration."

"Of course you primitives wouldn't know of my kind," Javik answered, shaking his head. "I am unaware of the existence of this... what you refer to as Geth."

The officer turned to Shepard. "Is he with you?"

"He is."

"He's not a Geth, is he?"

"No he is not."

He nodded. "I'll take your word for it, Commander. Just go on through and clear it with the captain in charge. Bailey will want to speak with you."

* * *

"Commander Shepard," Bailey hailed. "It appears the rumors are true. The system probably says you're dead. I'll get that cleared up right away."

"Thanks, but actually I wanted to see if I could get my friend here into the system," she stated, pointing to Javik.

Bailey took a moment to examine him. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's been flagged as a risk for Geth infiltration. His species isn't in the system."

"What is he?"

"Prothean," Javik affirmed.

Bailey glanced back and forth between Shepard and Javik with a quizzical expression, as if he were waiting for Shepard to admit this was a prank. "O...kay then. I'll register your friend uhhh..."

"Javik," the Prothean interrupted.

"Yes, Javik here in the system as a uhhh Prothean."

"Thanks, Bailey. I know I'm stretching what you can believe, but these are turning into strange times. My friends and I'll be off to the Council now."

"See ya, Commander," Bailey saluted.

* * *

"How long do you expect us to wait around, Anderson," Councilor Sparatus complained.

"Just a little while longer, Shepard should be here any minute," Anderson stated as Shepard entered the room followed by Liara and Javik. "Shepard! Long time, no see," Anderson welcomed, extending a hand, which Shepard shook.

"Anderson, it's been a while."

"I see you've brought company. Dr. T'soni, and..."

"Javik," the Prothean introduced.

"Right. Now Shepard, I've gathered the Council so you can tell them about what you've discovered."

"We've heard some troubling rumors, Commander. The word is that you've been working with Cerberus since your return," Coucilor Tevos started.

"Yes, I am. Not that that has anything to do with why I'm here," Shepard argued. "I have more pressing matters to discuss with you all." She took a large step forward. "I know that even though I saved all of your lives from them when they attacked the Citadel, you still don't believe they're real, but the Reapers are returning, and we have to work together to stop them," Shepard began.

The Council members exchanged annoyed glances amongst the three of them. "Shepard, there's no proof that the Reapers are a real threat. As far as the evidence goes, there's nothing that suggests the attack on the Citadel was little more than the responsibility of a rogue Spectre and an army of Geth," Tevos replied.

"Silly primitives. Your ignorance will in the end be the reason for your demise," Javik interjected.

"And who is this, exactly," asked Councilor Valern.

"He's a Prothean. We found him in cryo-stasis in an underground bunker on Eden Prime," Shepard answered.

Javik took a valiant step forward, ahead of Shepard and Liara. "It would be wise of you to listen to your Commander. I guarantee you she is correct about the Reapers." The Council exchanged glances once again, this time in bewilderment. Javik continued, his arms crossed behind his back as he paced the Council Chambers. "In my cycle, the Reapers exterminated us slowly and gruesomely, city by city, planet by planet, we were overpowered. There was no preparing for the Reapers in my time. It was a tireless genocide against my people." He stopped and faced the Councilors, hands still behind his back. "It was not a slow death, it took centuries as they made sure they overtook every last Prothean. We knew our cycle would be overcome, so we left clues, beacons all around the galaxy, evidence of our destruction, for you to find when the time came. I sense that the Commander has found one," he said, pausing and facing Shepard.

"I did. Your beacon almost killed me."

He shook his head in disappointment. "Then I see that communication is still primitive in this cycle." He continued his speech to the Council. "Your cycle has been given a gift. The gift of time, every second of it is precious. There is no time to argue about whether or not the Reapers are coming. I'd hope it will not take seeing the burned remains of your home in order to believe." He completed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The Council stood speechless.

Shepard put her arm around Javik's shoulder and continued with her business. "I hope that gives you a little insight into the situation."

The Asari councilor finally gathered herself enough to speak. "That is an alarming testimony, I must admit. What do you suggest we do, Mister Prothean."

Javik nodded toward Liara. "I believe your Asari has something of importance she would like to present."

Liara nodded and stepped forward. "Yes, I believe we have found blueprints to a weapon that could be used against the Reapers in the Mars archives, in the instance that they arrived." She pulled up the schematics on her Omni-tool to show to the council. "A weapon, massive in size and scope, capable of unquantifiable levels of destruction. We'd have to unite a galaxy's worth of fleets to decode and build a weapon of this stature."

The Councilors all looked to each other and nodded.

"The Council agrees the evidence you've presented is worthy of being investigated. We will deliberate amongst ourselves and report back to you within the next two galactic standard days. Until then, Commander, you are excused," Councilor Tevos finished, disconnecting from the video chat.

"Well that went much better than I'd expected," said Shepard.

"Oh, one last thing," Anderson spoke. "The Council wanted me to let you know that your Spectre status has been renewed. I'll be going now, Shepard." They shook hands one last time and Anderson left the room.

"Pity, 'deliberate' is only a code word for 'waste more time'," Javik insinuated.

"Yeah, I agree, but it's the best we've got right now. I should head back to the Normandy and continue the mission with Cerberus. Liara, you should take Javik with you. I'm sure Feron would enjoy more company than that drone you've got flying around. We'll meet back up once we get word from the Council."

Liara acknowledged and headed back to her ship with Javik.


	7. Not Again

Once off the Citadel, and with some free time on her hands, Shepard decided to take the time to pick up Samara and Thane off Illium. She also didn't think it'd be a bad thing to do Miranda a favor and help her with the situation regarding her sister, considering she did dedicate the past two years of her life to bringing Shepard back. _Favor for a favor,_ she supposed.

When Liara contacted Shepard to let her know the Council was done deliberating, Shepard headed back to the Broker ship. When she entered the ship, she found Liara in the main chambers standing in front of a large screen. She could hear Javik and Feron in the other room. She assumed judging by the sounds that they were probably playing a game of cards of some sort. Regardless, she ignored them and continued toward Liara.

"How's it going here on the ship with uhh, those two," Shepard asked in an almost mocking tone.

Liara only rolled her eyes and redirected her gaze back to the large screen. "We'll be arriving to the Citadel very soon," was the only response she mustered.

"I'm just gonna check on the guys. I'll be back in a few minutes," Shepard excused.

When she entered the room with Javik and Feron, she was amused at the revelation that her assumption was correct. They were playing a game of cards. All the while they were playing Skyllian Five, Javik continuously referred to people who spend time playing the game, the idea of gambling, and even the entire concept of card games as "primitive".

"I don't understand why you waste your time with such primitive games. In my cycle, the only game we played was called 'survival of the fittest'. If you lost, you were sacrificed to make way for the stronger," he boasted.

"That's just horrible. Are you serious," Feron asked.

"No, I am not. The primitives of this cycle will believe anything," Javik insulted.

"What's going on here guys," Shepard inquired.

"Nothing. Javik was just leaving to check the power systems." Feron glared evilly at Javik.

"Pfft." He understood and took his leave.

"Hey, Feron. I've been meaning to talk with you about something in private."

Feron nodded to Shepard requesting her to take a seat. She sat at the table across from him.

"Is something concerning you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact." She leaned forward and locked her hands together. "So you and Liara..."

He threw up his hands. "I think I know where this is going. You're wondering if we've been involved."

Shepard's eyebrows grew close together. "Well?"

Feron sighed and put his hands down. "Honestly, I've tried, Commander. It doesn't take a genius to know that as long as you're around, to her, it's almost as if no one else is."

"Really?" Shepard eased back into the chair. "So you're saying..."

"I'm saying that no matter what I do, I'll always be second place to you. In layman's terms, no. We are not, nor have we ever been, together."

"Hm." Shepard stood up. "That's all for now. I'm just going to check up on the ETA." She took her leave and met back up with Liara.

"We almost there, yet?"

"We should be arriving very soon." Liara turned away and put her fist under her chin.

"Something wrong?"

"I... I just hope the Council listens. If you're right about all this, I just worry the consequences could be dire if they don't."

Shepard sighed.

"Hey, Li. Can we talk about something for a quick second?"

Liara turned back to type at the console. "What is it, Shepard? I have some things to finish up before we reach the Citadel."

"It's just... we never properly got the chance to-" she was suddenly halted when the ship took a tumble, throwing everyone to the ground and flickering the power systems.

"That didn't sound good," Liara started as she lifted herself off the ground."

"This ship constantly travels amongst a lightning storm, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often," Shepard responded as she began to recover from the fall.

"This ship has very strong motion dampeners. It has to be something else." Liara headed toward the shutters. "What... is that?"

Shepard headed to where Liara was looking as Feron and Javik joined them in the main chambers.

"Is that..." It was worse than Shepard had feared. It was the same Collector vessel that had attacked the Normandy two years before. Shepard ran toward the console and pulled up the ship's commands.

"Prepare for evasive maneuvers," Shepard shouted, taking control of the ship.

"Shepard, you can't even drive a Mako. How do you expect to-" Liara was cut off when she was fumbled to the ground due to Shepard's mediocre piloting.

"Don't worry, I got this," Shepard assured, knowing that she didn't have it at all. She had no idea something like this would happen. Maybe the fact that she was making so much progress so quickly made her more suspicious to the Reapers. Regardless, they were taking heinous steps to eliminate her. Even though Shepard had no control of the situation, she was lucky enough to be close to a Mass Relay and get through without the Collectors pursuing. As they jumped through the relay, the ship sped up to unfathomable speeds.

"Please enter desired coordinates into the console," the loudspeaker boomed.

"Uhhh..." Shepard didn't know what to do, so she just ended up typing in some random numbers. "Theeeere we goooo. Alright now, that should work."

Shepard realized she was mistaken when the loudspeaker boomed again, this time uttering "Crash landing imminent. Please brace for impact. Goodbye."

"Everyone get ready," Shepard shouted. The ship ended up crash landing and knocking everyone out.

* * *

When everyone awoke they exited the ship to check the damage and they're surroundings. They were fortunate enough to have crashed on The Citadel instead of some remote location. Some C-Sec officers surrounded the ship and reprimanded Shepard for crashing into a few shops. Luckily, no one was killed.

"Commander Shepard, aren't you supposed to be off seeing the Council? What are you doing crashing into buildings on the Presidium," a Turian C-Sec officer demanded.

"Look, I'm on my way to see them. I'll pay for any damages I am responsible for, but I need to go now. My business with the Council is important."

"So I've heard. Someone told me you were looking for Garrus."

"Yeah, I was. I found him a while back. We started working together again recently after I picked him up on Omega."

"Garrus on Omega? I don't think I've ever heard of that. Well, if you two already no each other no use in me telling you where to go. You should proceed to the Council now." He nodded at them and they began to head off. "Oh, and Commander," they paused. "Good luck on you investigation. We all know he's crooked." The officer walked away.

Liara turned to Shepard. "What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's just making stuff up. Come on. We should go."

They made their way to the Citadel Rapid Transit and took it to the Citadel Towers. When they entered the chambers, it appeared to them that the Council was already in session.

"Did they start without us," Liara asked.

"They better not have!" Shepard began storming up the steps with Liara walking behind her and Javik and Feron holding their positions near the bottom. Before Shepard could reach the top, she paused. Something impossible happening right before her eyes.

* * *

"Are you all sure you want to do this? You really think the Humans are ready to join the Spectres?"

"Come on, it was a Turian Spectre that betrayed the Council and a Human that brought him to justice."

The Asari and Salarian councilors both glanced at the Turian one.

He sighed. "Fine."

The Shepard from the future ended up running backwards and pulling everyone behind a wall, out of the Council's view.

"This. Is. Not. Good," Shepard whispered, peeking around the corner. "If I saw what I think I just saw..." She covered her face with her hands and slumped to the ground. "Not again..."


	8. Still Not Good

_Damn it. I knew there would be consequences to this whole time travel thing. I should've just destroyed all the synthetics for heaven's sake,_ Shepard thought to herself. Shepard and the rest of the gang were hiding in the ally where they'd found Tali in the past, or technically in the present. They were trying to come up with a plan for their next course of action.

"Shepard, how did this happen?" Liara was fiddling with her Omni-tool with a troubled expression on her face.

"I don't know, but this is really bad. We're stuck in the past with no ship and no way to get back to the future. I need MY ship, but I'M flying that ship. What if- no no that's a bad idea. Or MAYBE... mmmmm as a matter of fact... mmm naaah.." Shepard sat there pondering. "AH! WHAT IF WE KILLED ME AND TOOK MY SHIP!"

"Shepard if we kill past you future you will die as well," Liara informed. "The best thing to do would be to let past you continue on their current mission. We have to keep our actions here as minimal as possible."

"It is too late for subtlety. The Commander has already crashed a large ship on the Citadel. The bill will be astronomical," Javik interjected.

"Javik is right. We need a ship one way or another." Shepard stroked her chin. "What if I just introduced myself to me and explained the situation?"

"Is there really no other way?"

"Li, I don't see you coming up with a better plan. Here's the deal: I introduce myself to myself, and ONLY myself, then I let me know that I'm me from the future and I should get me a new ship so I can get back to the future. Good idea?"

"How are you going to get you all alone?"

"Hmm, well I have a feeling I know where I am right now. I've probably been caught by C-Sec, so one of us can find me there and lure me back here. Mmm... Feron, could you go to the site of the ship wreckage, find me, and lure me back here? And it has to be just me, leave the crew behind. Got it?"

"I'll do the best I can. I'll be back as soon as I make progress." Feron headed off.

* * *

"GODDAMNIT I'M TELLING YOU IT WASN'T ME THAT CRASHED THIS DAMN THING. I'VE NEVER EVEN SEEN THIS SHIP BEFORE IN MY LIFE!"

Shepard's assumptions were proven correct when Feron approached the crash site and found Shepard with Tali and Garrus yelling at a C-Sec officer.

"Are you trying to tell me there's some imposter running around? Just because you change your armor and your crew doesn't mean you can pretend you didn't do this."

Feron took this as his opportunity to slip in. He approached and interrupted the conversation. "Excuse me, officer and Commander. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I overheard you're having trouble sorting out this bill situation. I'm a big fan of the Commander, and I also happen to be very wealthy. I'll take care of the bill, no problem."

Both the Commander and the officer exchanged glances and nodded.

"Very well. Have a pleasant day, Commander." The officer took his leave.

"You're just going to take care of the bill, just like that? Who are you, anyway," Shepard interrogated.

"I'm an agent of the Shadow Broker. Speaking of, he would like to meet you, alone."

Tali interrupted the conversation. "Wait wait, I thought no one gets to meet the Shadow Broker. I got shot when I tried to meet him!"

"And you'll be shot again if you come with. Shepard, he wants to talk to JUST you. You have to leave your crew behind."

"No way. My crew comes."

"No they don't. If you want something to help you feel safe you can bring your weapons and armor."

Past Shepard and her crew exchanged looks and made head movements as if they were having a telepathic conversation. They all nodded at each other before Shepard agreed to go with Feron. Once she was separated from Garrus and Tali, Feron began explaining himself in a hushed voice.

"Shepard, you have to listen to me. I know you don't fully trust me which is why your crew is probably following close by, but this is really serious and you have to tell your crew to go away. I mean it when I say we need you all alone."

A concerned look came over Shepard. She assumed that that meant the crew could be put in danger, so she sent them messages via Omni-tool telling them to wait in the docking area.

"I promise you're in no danger, Shepard. It's just top secret."

* * *

"This is the ally I found Tali in. What are we doing here? This IS an ambush isn't it," Shepard asked reaching for her weapon.

"No, it isn't." Feron faced the far end of the ally. "SHE'S HERE, YOU CAN ALL COME OUT NOW."

Shepard drew her weapon and pointed it, but without firing. Javik and Liara walked out of the shadows inoffensively causing Shepard to holster her weapon. She looked around slightly confused.

"Umm... so which one of you is the Shadow Broker?"

Liara stepped forward. "Well technically I am... or was... or will be... Anyway, the ship that crashed on the Presidium was my ship, which is why I sent Feron to pay for the damages."

"You're the... WELL WHY THE HELL DID C-SEC THINK IT WAS ME?"

"Because I did it!" Future Shepard stepped out of the shadows and into the light.

Past Shepard pulled out her weapon and pointed it at herself. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE?"

Future Shepard stomped over to herself and disarmed her. "You should know better than to point weapons at yourself."

"What... WOULD SOMEONE MIND EXPLAINING TO ME WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? What are you, some kind of clone?"

"No, me. I'm you, from the future."

"How is... what? How is this possible? Prove it!"

"Okay, ask me any question only I would know!"

"Okay, ummm... HA! What do you have a tattoo of on your ass?"

"What! Are you trying to embarrass us? How could you ask me that in front of my friends?"

"Hmm, you're right."

"Tattoo on..."

"Liara, I'll explain later. AH THAT'S IT! I can prove it! See this Asari here?" She grabbed Liara and pointed at her face. "This is Liara T'soni. Aren't you supposed to be picking her up from Therum?"

"How did you... I didn't even know she was on Therum! Looks like my mission just got a hell of a lot shorter."

"Yeah, but this isn't the her you'll get to know, yet. You have to continue the mission and get her off Therum, otherwise she'll be stuck in a bubble and you'll never sle- uhh I mean you'll never become really good friends."

"I see..." Past Shepard looked down and began to stroke her chin. "Well, I'm not sure if I fully trust you, yet, but I'm willing to cooperate for now. What do you need me for?"

"Our future mission is very important, so we need to get back there, and we can't do that without a ship. We need you to use your Spectre authority to get us a new ship. We'll forward any credits you need to obtain, but we need a ship!"

Past Shepard patted the other her on the shoulder. "I'll get you what you need, just hang tight for a second. I'm going to go by the ship dealer."

"We'll be here if you need us."

* * *

Past Shepard went to the used ship dealer and began looking through the catalogues for an appropriate ship. She was approached by a Volus who ran the place.

"Welcome to my dealership, Earth-Clan. I am the owner here, Don Volkar. Have you been viewing any interesting models that you would like more information on?"

"I've been looking at some of these Earth models. I think the MSV Bill Nye looks like the best used model so far. How much will it be?"

"I'm thinking I can sell it to you at the low low price of-"

"Or you can give it to me for free. I'm a Spectre and my mission is very secret and very important. If people find out you're the dealer who donated a ship to Commander Shepard, people will be swarming you for sales."

"That does seem to be an appealing offer. Throw in an endorsement and we have a deal."

* * *

Past Shepard approached future Shepard with the news.

"So what happened?"

"The MSV Bill Nye is all yours now. It's waiting for you guys in the Docking Bay."

"Yes, I knew I could do it. I'm the best," She boasted, slapping the younger her on the back.

"Wait, before you go, you're really me from the future?"

"Yeah I am. I know you've got a lot of questions, but it's best if you don't ask in this case. If I were you I'd just wait it out."

"But, just one question... Do we stop the Reapers?"

The Future her could tell that the past her was genuinely worried. She wanted the answer to know she wasn't doing all of this for nothing.

"To be honest, I don't even know the answer to that question. I'm still fighting them now, which is how I ended up here. I guess that we never really stop fighting." She turned to leave, but stopped one more time. "Oh, and just a hint in case you reach the future before I do, just pick red." She turned her head to her. "You'll know what that means when the time comes." She continued on her way out of the ally with Liara, Javik, and Feron.

* * *

Once they were back outside, Liara made a realization. "Shepard, we have a ship now."

"Yeah, so?"

"Exactly. That doesn't really change anything. You know we still don't know how to get back to the future."

"Oooohhhh nooo you're right. This is-"

"Still not good."


	9. Working Together

Shepard and the rest of the gang were on the elevator going from C-Sec to the Docking Bay trying to formulate a plan to get them back to the future. As Liara had pointed out earlier, having a ship didn't solve all of their problems. They still had no idea how to get back to where they needed to be.

"Shepard, do you have ANY ideas?"

"I'm thinking, Liara." Shepard was growing increasingly frustrated with her current situation. She was now beginning to think that the whole time machine thing was not worth the risk in the first place and she should've just killed all the synthetics, or better yet, she wouldn't have minded sacrificing herself at this point. Regardless, it was too late now. She needed an exit strategy. "I don't have any ideas, yet. Maybe we can think of something once we get on the ship."

Once they'd reached the docking bay, they found Tali and Garrus standing near the Normandy waiting for the other Shepard. Thinking that the future Shepard was their Shepard, they approached her.

"Shepard, how did it go with the..." Garrus looked her up and down. "Where did you get that new set of armor?"

Shepard decided it would be a good idea to improvise and see where the interaction would go.

"Uhh... The Shadow Broker gave it to me. He wanted to get me alone so that he could give me this new armor prototype he wanted me to test out or something. We should get to the Normandy."

"Right behind you, Shepard. By the way, would you mind introducing us to your new friends here?"

"Oh, them? They're just some people I met. As a matter of fact, they're flying that ship over there. The MSV Bill Nye. Yeah, they were just going actually."

Liara whispered to Shepard. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" She nudged Liara toward the other ship. "It was really nice meeting you guys, but it looks like I have to go do some important galaxy saving stuff. See ya later!"

Liara grabbed Shepard and pulled her back. "Shepard, this is a really bad idea."

"Huh? Can't hear ya over the sound of me and my crew heading to the Normandy." She leaned into Liara. "When I get up here tell me I'm sorry." She gave Liara a sorrowful look before heading to the Normandy with Garrus and Tali, leaving the other three behind.

* * *

Moments after the Normandy flew off, the other Shepard had arrived. She looked around, obviously confused.

"Uhh... Where did my ship go? And why are you guys still here?"

"Umm... the other you says she's sorry but-"

"SHE TOOK MY SHIP? DAMN IT I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED SOMEONE WHO SAID THEY WERE ME FROM THE FUTURE!"

"No no, she really is you from the future, I promise. I may not know what her plan is, but if she's taking the Normandy, she must have a good one," Liara informed.

* * *

Shepard sat on the Normandy alone in her quarters with no plan. She had no idea where she'd gotten off betraying her younger self, but she'd already taken the ship so there was no going back.

Joker's voice came booming over the intercom. "Shepard, any idea where you wanna start your search for the Doctor?"

"Yes, head straight for Therum in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau Cluster."

"That sounds specific enough for me. Punching in the coordinates now."

* * *

Shepard stood with Liara, Javik, and Feron still in the Docking Bay.

"So, what am I supposed to do now? I've got no ship. I've got no crew." She eyed the three people standing in front of her when suddenly a lightbulb went off in her head. "Ah! You guys are coming with me on the Bill Nye."

"And if we refuse," Javik asserted.

"Then you can rot here on the Citadel. Look, I don't know who, or even what you are, but it looks like you've got a nice set of armor and you might know how to hold a gun, and that's good enough for me. If you want to stay here, be my guest. But if you want to fight the Reapers, you can join me."

Javik looked to the side and thought hard before responding. "You are as persuasive now as you are in the future. A formidable quality. I will join you."

"Good. Now if you all don't mind, I'd like to at least know your names and species if I'm going to be risking my life with you all."

"My name is Feron, a Drell," he introduced with a bow.

"I'm Liara T'soni. You're supposed to be picking me up from Theurm right now."

"And you?"

"Javik. Prothean."

Shepard squinted her eyes in disbelief. "Uh huh. Alright then, team. I believe we have an Asari to pick up from Therum. To the Bill Nye!"

"Wait, none of us know how to fly a ship," Liara realized.

"You always this depressing," Shepard asked.

"Your Asari is right. You do not have a ship pilot."

"Well where the hell am I supposed to get one on such short notice?"

"Did the great Commander Shepard just say she needed a ship pilot?" They all turned around to see Conrad Verner arriving to the Docking Bay.

"Conrad... it's you again," Shepard announced, obviously annoyed.

"Did I ever tell you that I went to piloting school? If you need a pilot, I'm your man!"

"Conrad this- oh hell I have no other options. If you say you know how to pilot a ship you damn well better know because I'm putting my life in your hands."

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Conrad straightened up and saluted.

Shepard sighed and shook her head. "To the ship."

* * *

The next day, future Shepard had arrived on Therum choosing once again to take Garrus and Tali with her on this trip. They bounced around in the Mako, killing all Geth in their path with the attached canon.

"Shepard, you're just blowing through these Geth. It's almost as if you've had years worth of experience killing these things," Garrus noted.

"And many more," Shepard added. "Liara should be somewhere around here. Keep an eye out for an entrance to a mine."

"Got it, Shepard."

* * *

The other Shepard and her crew landed on Therum following with a vehicle of their own. They didn't know whether or not the future Shepard had landed yet, so they were sure to make haste.

"So, what are we going to do with two of me," Liara questioned.

"I don't know, and in a way, it doesn't really matter. I'm here because I know this is where I'm headed next, and I need to stop me from taking over my mission."

As they continued to drive, Shepard began to notice a ton of inactive get in their path. "Damn it, she's already here. Time to get this Grizzly on the move." Shepard pressed down as hard as she could on the pedal, sending everyone flying backwards. "Hold on to your butts, people!"

* * *

"Hello, can you hear me out there? I'm stuck! I need help!" Liara yelped helplessly as she floated within the confines of the Prothean security device.

"Shepard, that must be Dr. T'soni," Garrus pointed out.

"It is. Liara?"

"Oh! Thank the Goddess, someone came for me! Please you have to help me! I-"

"Hit something you weren't supposed to and now you're floating there. Just a second, we'll get you out of there in a jiffy."

"NOT SO FAST!" Shepard heard as she turned and looked up to see none other than herself, with Liara, Javik, and Feron.

"Crap, I should've known I was too smart to fool myself."

"Kee'lah. What... is happening," Tali uttered.

"Uhh... She's an imposter! Shoot- uhh I mean don't shoot! Damn it!"

"Yeah that's right. You think you can steal a ship from yourself and get away with it?"

"Look, you need to understand, I need this ship!"

"Then what the hell did you make me get you a ship for?"

"I made you get YOU a ship!"

"Excuse me, is anyone going to help me? I know your argument must be important, but I'm still stuck here!"

"Silly primitive. It appears she has set off one of our security devices." Javik made his way down the stairs to where Liara was held and hit the wall, revealing a hidden console. He input a code and released her.

"Thank you so much. With the arguing going on I didn't think I would ever get out of there." He reached out his hand and helped her up. She stared at him in awe. "You look... I'm sorry, what is your name."

"It is as you suspect Asari. My name is Javik. I am a Prothean."

"You're a..."

"Trust me, he's not as he seems," Liara informed herself as she joined with the other crew at the bottom of the stairs.

"By the Goddess, you're..." She put her head on her forehead. "Ooh, I am afraid I am feeling a bit lightheaded."

"It's okay. The Normandy has a state of the art medical bay. You can join my team and our Doctor will check you out," Future Shepard insisted.

"Umm... you mean you can join ME on the Normandy on MY ship!"

Future Shepard punched her younger self in the face and tried to get away, but past her tugged on her leg causing her to tumble. The two tussled on the ground for a bit before Garrus pulled them apart.

"I have no idea what's going on here, so would someone mind explaining?"

Past Shepard brushed herself off. "Go ahead, SHEPARD. Explain"

She crossed her arms. "Okay, fine! I'm from the future, and so are they," she confessed, pointing to the three she'd left behind on the Citadel.

Younger Liara looked at the other her. "It is as I suspected! I knew you looked familiar."

The older Liara stepped in the middle of the crowd. "Now that everything is out in the open, we need to come up with a plan. The mission must continue whether we're in our right time periods or not."

"You're right, Liara. I'm sorry for being mean to you, me."

"It's okay. In your position, I'm sure I would have done the same thing."

The two Shepards hugged out their conflict.

"I know this is overwhelming, but we need to work together. We can keep this whole two Shepard thing under wraps so the public doesn't get confused, but with two Shepards, we can do anything. Are you in or out?"

The younger Shepard looked around at everyone, then looked to Garrus and Tali, who nodded in agreement. "I guess I'm in."

The two Shepards shook on it.


	10. The Plan

The two Shepards and their crews were having a meeting in the Normandy SR-1's briefing room.

"Okay everybody, there's a lot we need to discuss," The younger Shepard started. "So, incidentally, I happen to have met a version of me from the future on the Citadel. She claims she has vital information concerning our war with the Reapers."

The older Shepard looked around the room. "Kaidan and Ashley, huh. Sometimes it's hard for me to remember you were both alive at some point."

"Both alive? You mean to say at least one of us is going to die soon," Kaidan asked.

Shepard covered her mouth with her hands. "Uhh... I mean you know, in the same place. We don't see each other much in the future."

"Oh. That's... unfortunate," Kaidan responded.

The older Shepard wiped the sweat off of her forehead with her arm. She then stood up and moved to the center of the room. "Alright, listen up. I've got some news for ya. About three years from now the Reapers will be arriving to Earth in full force. They will kill everything you know and love if you don't stop them."

"Your Commander speaks the truth," Javik added.

"Shepard, what's up with him," Ashley asked.

"He's a Prothean," the older Shepard replied.

"Thanks for answering, but I was actually asking MY Commander. No offense."

"I am your Commander you shithead."

"We've got to get this Shepard thing figured out," Kaidan butted in. "We should rename the Commanders so we know which one we're talking to. How about the older one can be Shepard A, and our's can be Shepard B."

"Or, I can be Shepard A since we're in my universe. We don't even know if she's actually me or not."

The younger Liara raised her hand. "Excuse me, I think I have an idea. All four of them say they're from the future. If we can prove that one of them are, then the others must be as well."

"What are you suggesting," the younger Shepard requested.

"If that other Asari says she's me then we can join our consciences and find out whether or not that's true."

The older Shepard glanced back and forth between the two Liaras with a disturbed look on her face. "Wait a minute, isn't that like..."

"Okay. Let's do it," Liara responded.

"Wait are you really-"

The two Liara's met in the center of the room. They stared deeply into one another's eyes, the younger one called out "Embrace Eternity," and their eyes were clouded black. Everyone just kind of sat in their seats and watched in silence as if they were watching a suspense film. Suddenly the younger one snapped out of it prematurely.

"By the... what... it's true, everyone. I believe that these four people really are from the future."

Everyone looked back and forth between each other and there was some mumbling heard around the room.

"All right, everyone quiet down. If Liara agrees, we should be inclined to believe her. Shepard B has some evidence to present."

"Excuse me, I'M Shepard A."

"Hey guys," Kaiden added. "How about the older one be Shepard A, and our Shepard be Shepard One?"

"That's fine with me," Shepard One agreed.

"Okay fine then. I, Shepard A, have evidence. Liara, front and center, please."

Liara A went to the center of the room and pulled up the Crucible schematics on her Omni-tool. "This here is a blueprint for a weapon that can be used to defeat the Reapers. It can be found in the Mars archives which was arranged by Prothean scientists. What we need to do is warn the Council and get them to arrange a fleet large enough to build this weapon and have it ready by the time the Reapers arrive in full force."

"But before we meet with the Council again, we should get to Saren's base on Virmire. We need to destroy it or else he'll use the Genophage cure to turn all those Krogan into Brutes."

"Cure for the Genophage? What?!" Wrex uttered.

"Listen to me, Wrex. We'll cure the Genophage eventually, but now is not the time. You've seen husks, haven't you? Imagine the Krogan version of husks. THAT is what the Reapers will do to your people if we cure the Genophage NOW. I know what I'm talking about so back off," Shepard A spat.

"Okay. Sheesh."

Ashley raised her hand. "What do you mean Virmire?" As soon as she'd asked, the comm terminal in the room began to blink.

"Commander, you've got a message marked urgent from the Citadel. I'm patching it through to the Comm room now," Joker voiced over the intercom.

"Thanks, Joker." Shepard One stood and made her way to the comm terminal. She answered the call. "Council? What is it?"

"Commander Shepard we have an urgent matter we must discuss with you," the Asari Councilor began.

The rest of the crew couldn't hear much of the conversation, but they could pick out a few words and phrases such as "STG" and "Virmire".

"Right. I'll give it a look. Thank you for your help." She finished the call and took her seat in the circle. "So it looks like there's a situation on Virmire the Council would like us to attend to."

"Alright everyone, grab your gear, let's head out," Shepard A announced as she made her way to the armory.

"I think we should think out our strategy first," Shepard One suggested.

"Wow sounds to me like you just want to waste time. We're going, now." She continued down her path.

"Wait, some of us should take the Bill Nye. We don't have enough room on this ship for everyone. Plus, we could use the extra firepower." Shepard One turned and looked to everyone in the room. "Tali, you know how to fly a ship well enough to keep everyone inside from dying?"

"I mostly only work on ship engines, but I'm sure I could figure how to pilot one without any trouble."

"Good. I picked up some loser named Conrad Verner on the Citadel. He almost crashed flying us to Therum. Tali, you're piloting the Bill Nye with Shepard A, The Prothean, the lizard man, the older Liara, and Ashley. I don't really care what you do with Conrad Verner. Maybe the Bill Nye could use a Janitor."

"Excuse me, ma'am. Why am I being sent to another ship," Ashley asked.

"Having you outside of my visual range is good for my moral. Everyone clear of our orders," Shepard One asserted.

"Yes ma'am," Garrus saluted.

"Then let's head out."


End file.
